The Edukators

Rated R2005

Peter (Stipe Erceg) and Jan (Daniel Bruhl) case the neighborhoods of the well-to-do, figure out what kind of alarm systems are in place, then disable them in order to break in and . . . rearrange the furniture in creative ways. It's their form of anti-capitalist protest, and it works well until a woman inevitably comes between them. Jule (Julia Jentsch) is Peter's girlfriend, in tremendous debt as a result of a car accident (her fault) that left her owing 94,500 Euros to a businessman named Hardenberg (Burghart Klaussner). When Peter goes away for the weekend, leaving Jule alone with Jan, she finds out about their night trips and insists on doing one herself -- to Hardenberg's house. Things start to spiral out of control from there. Unlike in, say, Fight Club, director Hans Weingartner does not hedge his bets on the notion of whether simple-minded anarchy is any better than societal conformity -- his heart is with the Edukators, period. The only moral ambiguity comes from Hardenberg, who turns out to be an ex-radical himself . . . or does he?
ByLuke Y. Thompson